Last-ball agony as Red Rose fall just short in t20 thriller

Lancashire Lightning's Mitchell McClenaghan reacts after a 6 is scored off of his bowling during the Friends Life T20

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Captain Glen Chapple said Lancashire put in a good performance despite being knocked out of the Friends Life t20 in a thrilling quarter-final by defending champions Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl last night.

The Lightning lost by just one run having conceded 202-3, the most they have ever conceded in this format.

England hopeful Michael Carberry smashed a stunning 100 not out off 66 balls for the Royals, but Karl Brown, Steven Moore, Steven Croft and Gareth Cross kept their side in the hunt with 49, 44, 43 not out and 32 not out.

They were bang on course at 108-1 after 11 overs, but lost two wickets in two balls in the 12th over to Danny Briggs to hamper their chances.

But an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 68 in 5.5 overs between Croft and Cross nearly got the Lightning home. They had needed 70 off the last six overs, 57 off the last four, 31 off the last two and 17 off the last.

That became four off the last ball against Pakistani Sohail Tanvir, who just held his nerve in the face of Cross to ensure Hampshire a fourth successive Finals Day appearance.

“It’s disappointing to lose in the quarters after so much effort went into the group stage, but strangely I’m not devastated,” admitted

Chapple.

“I’m devastated that we won’t be at Finals Day, but that was a really good performance by the lads against a really good team.

“We knew we’d have to play well to beat them, and we did play well. They were just two runs too strong.

“When there’s 400 runs scored, it really does come down to a bit of luck. It could have gone either way.

“It was a good performance. The lads will be gutted, but we batted superbly well.

“At the end of the day we’ve lost the game, and that’s the harsh reality.

“We’ll have to wait until next year to play Twenty20 cricket, but there was some serious batting there.”

Carberry smashed 11 fours and three sixes on the way to a maiden ton.

He shared an opening stand of 110 in 10 overs with James Vince (60) on a belter of a batting track.

Lancashire were dealt a blow before the match due to the withdrawal of former Test batsman Ashwell Prince because of personal reasons.

The loss of Brown and overseas batsman Simon Katich, both bowled by left-arm spinner Briggs, hamstrung the visitors in the 12th over.

There was controversy over Brown’s dismissal as it looked like wicketkeeper Adam Wheater had disturbed the bails with his gloves instead of the ball.